Creative Vitality Index

Great coffee shops, bustling bookstores, a lively music scene, well-designed buildings, thriving art galleries – these are elements we find in the communities that drive the new economy.

 

Not every community can be a hub of economic and cultural innovation. But every community can develop and enhance its economic and cultural health by fostering policies that support creative vitality. The Creative Vitality Index was conceived as a tool that states, counties, cities and towns can use to assess and enhance their creative edge.

 

Creative Vitality Index Executive Summary 2009 Edition (PDF, 872 KB)

 

Free document readers and download instructions are available.

Creative Vitality Index cover
The Creative Vitality Index was updated to include 2007 data and re-released in 2009.
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What is the Creative Vitality Index?
The Creative Vitality Index is an annual measure of the health of the creative economy in a city, county, state or other geographic area. The creative economy as defined in the Creative Vitality Index includes for-profit and nonprofit arts-related enterprises. Using readily available, inexpensive data on employment and community participation, the Creative Vitality Index reflects the vigor of this sector of the economy and culture.

 

The Index has two major components. One component measures seven indicators of community PARTICIPATION in the arts (i.e., per capita museum and art gallery revenue from ticket and product sales). The other component measures concentrations of arts-related EMPLOYMENT (e.g., actors, graphic designers, television producers, art teachers).

 

How Did We Do?
The baseline score for the Creative Vitality Index is 1.00 – this is the national score using the same data streams used locally. A region’s score reflects a value relative to this national baseline; a score of 1.00 or greater means that the area has a relatively strong arts sector.

 

The Washington State Creative Vitality Index for the 2007 calendar year was 1.32, an increase from the previous year. Seattle-King County has the highest regional index, with an overall value of 2.51, also slightly higher than the 2006 index. While revenue for arts organizations was down slightly, book, music, photography, and museum stores all saw increases contributing to an overall increase in the Washington State Creative Vitality Index.

 

Although there were declines in Benton-Franklin, from .70 to .62, and Tri-County, from .74 to .56, several areas saw positive growth. Spokane County increased from 1.07 to 1.18, and Pierce County saw an increase from .76 to .84.

 

Overall, the State of Washington remains above the nation as a whole as measured by the 2007 Creative Vitality Index.

 

A Tool for Growth
The Creative Vitality Index can inform public policy decision-making and support the work of advocates for the development of the creative economy. Among many projected uses, the Index can:

 

  • Call attention to and educate the community at large concerning the components and dynamics of the creative economy.
  • Promote the concept that the creative economy includes both for-profit and nonprofit arts-related activities.
  • Call attention to significant changes in the creative economy ecosystem. If contributions from private foundations drop substantially in a year and three major architectural firms leave the area, it’s time for action.
  • Act as a framework upon which to define and build a coalition to support and expand the creative economy.
  • Serve as a diagnostic tool to provide baseline and then annually measure changes in the creative economy.

 

Part of a Bigger Conversation
Around the country, civic leaders, economists, philanthropists, mainstream business leaders and arts community leaders are engaged in lively dialogue about what constitutes the creative economy and to what degree it impacts a region’s overall economic and cultural health.

 

The Creative Vitality Index reflects the broad, systems-oriented thinking behind this dialogue and reinforces that nonprofit arts organizations and public arts agencies are part of an interdependent whole, the creative sector, the vitality of which is essential to the continuing health and vitality of the greater economy and community.

 

If you have questions about the index please contact Mark Gerth.